CHUKAI: The candidate who really wants and is willing to spend his time and energy to serve and look after the Kemaman parliamentary constituency should be given the opportunity to do so so that all issues affecting the people, as well as all plans for development, can be brought for further discussion at Dewan Rakyat.
Terengganu Umno chairman and former Menteri Besar of Terengganu, Datuk Seri Ahmad Said, expressed confidence that Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate General (Rtd) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor not only meets that criterion, but he can also represent the people of Kemaman and its four state constituencies in the best possible way.
Ahmad Said, who is also the former assemblyman for Kijal, which is one of the four seats in the Kemaman parliamentary constituency, also questioned whether Pas' candidate for the by-election, Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, will be able to do so based on his track record so far.
"The duties of Menteri Besar have kept him busy, so imagine holding an additional position of being a Member of Parliament (MP). He (Ahmad Samsuri) was not even in the country when Terengganu was hit by floods for two consecutive years.
"The Menteri Besar will not be able to look after Kemaman and the four state constituencies in Kemaman. If he can't look after his state constituency (Ru Rendang), how can he do so for other constituencies," he told Bernama when met recently.
The Kemaman by-election which is set December 2 sees a one-on-one clash between Raja Mohamed Affandi, who is also the former Defence Forces chief, and Ahmad Samsuri.
Unlike Pas, Ahmad said BN has taken an unprecedented approach when it featured a former top government official as its direct candidate.
"It has never happened before, he was one of the top five in Malaysia, this is the first time he has been given the opportunity to contest and he accepted the challenge.
"We want the people of Kemaman to choose us this time to represent one of the eight parliamentary constituencies in Terengganu. Here's a question for Kemaman voters, with eight Parliament seats currently held by PAS, what have the people gained?" he asked. — Bernama